No, but close........it happend around 1989 or 91 (can't remember) but it was much much worse than this, in my area home prices dropped a little but is now regaining and holding, the market will move again when towards the end of the school year and when people get back their returns. As far as I'm concerned, nothing to worry about.........exept for the Realtors!

in florida, it's horrible. every 3rd house in my neighborhood - a newly developed area - is for sale. Everyone bought a 2nd home to resell when rates were down following 9/11, and now there is no one to sell to, and rates are back up. I can bet as more people believe global warming is gonna put coastal florida underwater, it's gonna get worse.

Real Estate seems okay here. Median priced home is just $675,000. There is a nice 1/2 acre lot about 100 yards down the beach from mine for just $2.1million. I think they lowered it. I still think my friend gave her house away for $1.7 million a couple years ago. www.hawaiianoasis.com This place was beautiful.

Serious question. I'm renting a 2100 ft house with all the fixins on the water right now for next to nothing. Prices are dropping but I would like to see them bottom.

You foresee a complete crash, mindspin?

no clue. Prices are holding steady in the bay area and certain pockets are still a sellers market. We looked at a house last week: 1 acre lot, 2,500sqft, all the upgrades; asking price $2.1MM...it went for $2.7MM.

no clue. Prices are holding steady in the bay area and certain pockets are still a sellers market. We looked at a house last week: 1 acre lot, 2,500sqft, all the upgrades; asking price $2.1MM...it went for $2.7MM.

I'm going to seriously look in the fall/winter...

Bay area...jeeze, and I thought Chicago was bad.

I got my Real Estate Sales License here in Illinois back in December and it's been nothing but a buyers market. Great for me, that's an easy one. A few nights a week I take out a few clients and see whats out there.

I think you will be able to get some really undervalues property soon if it keeps going this way. People will start to panic (more if neccassry) and prices will drop steadily, you just have to know where to look, how much to risk and how to capitalize.

Intersting article:

According to the recently released list of “The World’s Richest People” by Forbes magazine—the 19th annual list of the world’s billionaires—46 out of the 691 billionaires (7 percent) made their money in the real estate industry. An additional 18 billionaires (3 percent) made their fortune in diversified industries and investments that included significant holdings in real estate.

And although no real estate billionaire came close to software giant Bill Gates, who was No. 1 on the list for the 11th straight year with $46.5 billion, the richest billionaires to make their fortunes in real estate were Raymond, Thomas, and Walter Kwok (#31, $10.9 billion)—brothers who inherited Sun Hung Kai Properties, a giant real estate development company in Hong Kong, after their father’s death in 1990. They also branched out into cellular phone service and bus operations in Hong Kong.

The richest American to make his fortunes in real estate, according to the Forbes list, is Donald Bren, 72, of Newport Beach, Calif. (#122, $4.3 billion), who started a homebuilding company and sold it to International Paper for $34 million in 1970. He now sells finished plots on Irvine Ranch, just south of Los Angeles, for more than $1 million per acre. He also owns 400 office buildings, 36 shopping centers, 80 apartment complexes, and two luxury hotels.

If you aspire to billionaire status, there’s good news. Although 17 of the 46 real estate billionaires (37 percent) inherited and then grew their fortunes, 29 of them (63 percent) are self-made billionaires. Also, almost half (47 percent) of the real estate billionaires live in the United States, with eight living in California (17 percent), four in New York (9 percent), and three in Illinois (7 percent).

So what characteristics do all of the real estate billionaires share—that you can possibly emulate to achieve higher success? To increase your chances of being a billionaire, keep these thoughts in mind:

Move to California. Of the 21 U.S. real estate billionaires, eight (38 percent) live in Atherton, Newport Beach, Stockton, Palo Alto, or Los Angeles.Immigrate to Asia. If you have aspirations to live outside the United States, move to Asia and practice real estate there (13 of the 46 real estate billionaires, or 28 percent, live in Hong Kong, Japan, or Singapore.). The top three non-U.S. countries with the most real estate billionaires are Hong Kong (7), United Kingdom (5), and Japan (4).Get married. Of the 43 real estate billionaires whose marital status are known, 37 are married (86 percent), three are divorced (7 percent), and three are widowed (7 percent).Have lots of kids. The 43 real estate billionaires whose marital status are known have an average of 2.9 children; 11 (or 26 percent) have four or more children, with William Pulte topping the list with 14 children.Get a college degree. Of the 26 real estate billionaires whose educational attainments are known, 20 have a college degree or higher (77 percent) (15, or 58 percent, have a bachelor’s degree and five, or 19 percent, have graduate degrees); five are high school grads (19 percent); and one is a high school dropout (4 percent).

Following is a complete list of the 46 billionaires who made their fortunes in real estate: